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October is Walk to School Month! Walk to School Month is a great reason to plan fun and exciting walk to school events in your community. Communities and schools can use Walk to School Month as a step toward changing community culture and creating better options for getting around that are safer, healthier, and also fun and rewarding. In 2009, only 13% of children 5 – 14 years old in the United States, walked or biked to school. Walking to school can be a great way for children to get the recommended 60 minutes of activity a day.

October 4 is International Walk to School Day which means that instead of taking the bus or being driven by Mom or Dad, you will likely see more students walking to and from school. Walk to School Day is a global event where communities from over 40 countries walk and bike to school.

Let your student discover that the journey to school can start with their own two feet! Here’s why that’s a great idea:

Get Exercise: Walking is a great opportunity for children to get the physical activity they need.

Get Outdoors: Walking and biking to school is a great way to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.

Help the Environment: Replacing car trips with walking or bicycling can reduce pollution from emissions, making it easier to breathe.

Make Your Community a Better Place: Walking and biking to school helps reduce congestion, especially around schools. Your neighborhood becomes safer, quieter, and friendlier and you get to know your neighbors and your neighborhood.

It’s Fun: Most importantly, walking to school is fun! It can be a great way for parents to spend more time with their children or for students to start their day off on a high note by having fun with their friends before even getting to school.

It’s Good for Children: Walking is a great way to get to school alert and ready to learn.

It’s Easy to Organize Parent Led Walks:with our new NJ Walking School Bus App http://www.gmtma.org/pg-schools-walking-school-bus.php you can search by elementary school for existing walking groups, create walking groups and invite neighbors to join, plan walks to and from school, assign parent leaders to walk with students, group text within the app, and alert parents when students have arrived safely at school.

GMTMA offers many other Safe Routes to School programs. To see how GMTMA can help you to make the trip to school safer, healthier and more fun in your community, contact us today at 609-452-1491 or email us at tma@gmtma.org.

Just in time for back to school planning and National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, we have launched the New Jersey Walking School Bus App!

Throughout the year, we work with schools and with towns on a variety of programs to encourage kids to walk and bike to school where it’s safe to do so. The new app allows parents to easily create and plan walks to and from school. Parents in Mercer County and selected areas in Ocean County can search by elementary school for existing walking groups, create walking groups, invite neighbors to join, plan walks to and from school, assign parent leaders to walk with students, group text within the app, and alert parents when students have arrived safely at school!

“Walking School Bus” is a universal term used to describe an organized group of children walking to and from school with one or more adults. It’s like a carpool — without the car!

“Walking to school isn’t just great for the health of our kids and the environment, it’s fun and social too,” said Cheryl Kastrenakes, Executive Director of GMTMA. “The WSB app gives parents a simple way to find other parents that want their children to walk to school and to set up a walking group.”

More information about the app and demo video are available on the Walking School Bus page on our website http://www.gmtma.org. All the parents that sign up by October 15, 2015 will be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift card!

Additional features: The app calculates the miles walked, calories burned and reduction in CO2 emissions for the individual, group and school.

GMTMA’s New Jersey Walking School Bus app is sponsored by the NJ Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to School Program; a comprehensive program that encourages walking and biking safely to school.